Iowa intrigue: Bachmann chair defects to Paul

The longtime chairman of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign in Iowa appeared Wednesday with the congresswoman, and then defected to rival Ron Paul a few hours later.

After staying silent at Bachmann’s rally in Indianola — the explanation was “dental work” — State Sen. Kent Sorenson went on stage before 500 Paul supporters in Des Moines and proclaimed his change of allegiance:

Bachmann

“I adore Michele Bachmann but the fact of the matter is I believe we have an opportunity to take Romney out here in Iowa and I believe that person is Ron Paul.”

Bachmann saw nefarious motives, claiming to reporters Sorenson told her he had been “offered money — he was offered a lot of money — by the Ron Paul campaign to go and associate with the Ron Paul campaign.”

Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Paul, scoffed at the claim. “She doesn’t have a clue,” he said of Bachmann. Asked why Bachmann would make such a charge, he added: “Because she just lost her campaign chairman and her campaign is floundering.”

Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite, was briefly the toast of the Iowa caucuses. She won the Iowa Republican Party’s straw poll in August. MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews — a loud Bill O’Reilly of the left — went so far as to predict Bachmann would wind up as the Republican nominee.

Bachmann has since faded. She has become known for hilarious takes on American history and pop culture. At one point, Bachmann claimed that the Revolutionary War battlefields of Concord and Lexington were in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts.

She proclaimed Waterloo, Iowa, to be the birthplace of John Wayne. In reality, The Duke was born over 100 miles away in Winterset, Iowa. Mass murderer John Wayne Gacy did for a time live in Waterloo.

When did Kent Sorenson decide to leave the leaky Bachmann ship?

“About 10 minutes ago,” he told Politico while preparing to go on stage at the Paul rally.